Walter D. Parks Biography

Walter Donald "Walt" Parks, son of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Parks, was born Nov. 20, 1918, in Moweaqua, Ill. He grew up on a grain and livestock farm and was active in 4-H and FFA, obtaining the State Farmer Degree in the latter. Walt received his elementary education in a one-room school. He graduated from Moweaqua High School, where he was in the band four years, in FFA four years, senior class president, and lead actor in Junior and Senior high school plays. The Outstanding Senior at Moweaqua High School, he received the senior cup for the student contributing most to the school.

He enrolled in the University of Illinois in the fall of 1936 on a County Farmers Institute Scholarship, which he won by competitive examination. He majored in general agriculture, specializing in soils. Walt was active in the General Agriculture, Field and Furrow, Rural Youth Clubs, YMCA, and Wesley Foundation. He served as Publicity Chairman of the Agriculture Dance Committee in both his junior and senior years. Walt was very active in Wesley Foundation while he was a student, but he claimed his greatest accomplishment there was meeting Mary Ada Pope and initiating a program that led to her becoming Mrs. Parks. He received his Bachelor of Science degree for the U of I in 1940. Later, he did graduate work in soils at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and Iowa State University.

Walt had a profound effect on the founding, development, operation, and progression of Nabor House. Quiet in demeanor, he was a good oranizer and level-headed thinker, lending a steady influence on actions and decisions made by the group. He had an instinctive ability to move directly to the heart of a challenge or task and effectively accomplish what needed to be done. These traits served the fraternity well, not only in its day-to-day operations, but also in shaping it for the future. Walt's artistic abilities served Nabor House well, too. The most viewed of his art work was the enlarged drawing and subsequent creation of the Nabor House pin that hung over the dining room fireplace at 811 W. Oregon.

Following graduation, Walt worked as a soild scientist for the US Soil Conservation Service in 1941-42. Called for military service in 1942, he was discharged in 1945 with the rank of Staff Sergeant. While in the service, he was assigned to the Aerial Photo Interpretation Section, Engineer Intelligence Headquarters, 15th Army Group in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. For his work in support of combat operations, Walt received the Bronz Star and the British "Mention in Dispatches" by order of King George VI.

After leaving the military, Walt returned to the SCS from 1945-48. From 1948-54, he farmed full-time at Moweaqua. he returned to the SCS in 1954 and worked there until 1972, completing a total of 25 years. He worked in 34 counties in Illinois and was stationed at eight locations, serving as Soil Survey Party Leader for the last 17 years at Anna and Carbondale. He was the author or principal author of two USDA Soil Survey Reports. A near fatal automobile accident resulted in Walt's disability retirement from SCS.

Walt then worked as a private consultant in soils and land use from 1972-75. From 1975-84, he worked for the Southern Seven Health Department, first as Sanitarian/Soil Scientist for private sewage systems, then as Director of Environmental Health. Following that, he was Administrator for the Southern Seven Health Department, which was the sixth-largest local health department in Illinois. Walt is a certified Soil Scientist at both the state and national levels, Certified Sanitarian (national), and Registered Sanitarian in Illinois. He was highly respected by his SCS peers in both Illinois and the nation and was well-known throughout Southern Illinois for his work in soil conservation and environmental health.

Walt married Mary Ada Pope on Jan. 1, 1945, while he was on leave from his military post in Italy. Mary Ada graduated from the University of Illinois, receiving her B.S. degree in home economics in 1942 and taught high school home economics for 32 years. Walt and Mary Ada had four children. Both Walt and Mary Ada retired in 1984 to Anna, Ill., to travel and assist their children. His hobbies included photography, nature, geography, and history.

- As written in "An Idea and an Ideal," a history of Nabor House published in 1989.

Obituary

He was born Nov. 20, 1918, in Moweaqua, the son of Oscar and Eva Sterling Parks.

He married Mary Ada Pope on Jan. 1, 1945, in Yorkville. Together they had lived in Anna 56 years. Mary survives there.

He graduated from University of Illinois and was one of five founders of Nabor House Fraternity. He was a member of United Methodist Church, Soil Science Society of America, Illinois Public Health Association and a former member of Anna Kiwanis Club.

In World War II, he served three years with the U.S. Army in the Mediterranean Theater of operations, where he received the Bronze Star and Oak Leaf Medal from the British Army. Both medals were for activity with engineer intelligence in support of combat operations.

Mr. Parks was a soil scientist with U.S. Soil Conservation Service for 25 years and was author of soil survey reports covering the five southernmost Illinois counties. He also worked with Southern Seven Health Department for 17 years, in capacities ranging from environmental health inspector to health department administrator.